Network Rail staff to hold two strikes next month

RMT union members at Network Rail are to hold two strikes next month in an ongoing dispute over pay and jobs.

The first strike will last for 24 hours from 5pm on June 4 with the second running for 48 hours from 5pm on June 9.

The move comes after the RMT union rejected Network Rail’s latest pay proposals as falling well short of what is required to maintain the living standards and working conditions for nearly 16,000 staff across Network Rail’s operations and maintenance.

There will also be action short of a strike with RMT members not working any overtime or additional hours or call-out duties from 00.01am on June 6 to 23.59pm on June 12.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “Our representatives have today rejected the pay package offered by Network Rail and in the absence of any further movement from the company that has left us with no option but to move to a rolling programme of industrial action which will begin next Thursday.

“We have a massive mandate for action which shows the anger of safety-critical staff across the rail network at attacks on their standards of living and the blunt truth is that this dispute could be settled for a fraction of the money being handed out in senior manager bonuses and to the train operators for not running services. That is a ludicrous situation which should never have been allowed to have arisen.”